THE BIRTH OF FREEDOM

THE BIRTH OF FREEDOM is an excellent, informative, interesting documentary about the exceptional circumstances that produced the American republic that believed people had certain unalienable rights from God, including the right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness.

Like a grand mystery asking “whodunit”, THE BIRTH OF FREEDOM shows that no other philosophy on earth, aside from Christianity, would give birth to the free market and free society of the United States of America. It contrasts the freedom with the limited freedoms in Athens during the heyday of their democracy when 90% of the people were slaves. It shows that the Roman republic severely constricted the freedoms of the majority of people who were slaves. It notes that, with the rise of Christianity, the word slave disappeared from the cultural lexicon around the year 900. It was replaced by words such as serf, yeoman and freeman. While these people had tough lives, they were not chattel property, and the art, literature and culture reflected the dignity Christianity had given them.

Step by step, the movie shows how Christianity transformed over several hundred years the thinking of Western Civilization to produce the unique society that put the individual above the dictator and the would-be slavemaster. The movie refutes all the other alternatives of political philosophy for failing to provide the exceptional conditions necessary for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It notes that some contemporary scholars have claimed these freedoms came out of the Enlightenment, and then proceeds to demolish those arguments by showing the effect of the Enlightenment, which was the bloodbath of the French Revolution, the totalitarianism of Napoleon, and, ultimately, the horrors of Communism and National Socialism.

This is a watchable, compelling document that’s highly recommended. Please show it to the children who are not getting an education and need to know the truth.